Improved leather-splitting machine



UNITED STATES PATENTY OFFICEO A. n. van eTEsoN, oE NEWARK, NEWy JERsEY.

IMPROVED LEATHER-SPLITTINGv MACHINE.

Specification forming part of Leiters Patent No. 35,850, dated July S, 18C2.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, A. H. VAN GTESON, of Newark, in the county of Essex and State of N ew Jersey, have invented an lmproved Machine for Splitting Leather, of which the following is a specification.

The improvements consist in, first, the combination of a peculiar-formed bed or table, hereinafter described, over which the leather I is drawn before coming in contact with the j substantially as hereinafter set forth; second,

the combination of the said bed, gages, tingers, and roller with a knife for splitting the leather and aroller for drawingit through the machine, and a friction-roller to prevent the slipping of the leather on the drawingroller, as hereinafter described.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan'of my improved machine. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same, showing the end which is at the left in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional elevation showing the parts tothe right of the center in Fig. 1.

l is the bed, the construction of which is clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 4. 2 2 are'the fingers, which press the leatherdown toward the bed. They are held down bythe weighted levers 3 3, which are weighted or loaded at their outer ends by means of weights 4 4. 5 is the continuous roller,which holds the leather down to the bed before the lingers begin to act upon it. 6 is the gage forward ofthe knife. It is made adjustable by means of screws 24 `24,working in the bed and bearing against the rear of the said gage, and the said gage is made as straight as possible, as is also the` knife 7. 8 is the bed in which the knife vibrates. 9 is the drawing-roller, which draws the leather through the machine. 10 is a friction-roller, used to prevent the leather from slipping on the roller9.- The thickness of the leather cut off fromthe main part is determined by the height of the gage G, which is regulated by the screws 24. If desirable, the rear gage may be made adjustable in the same manner as the front one, or the knife may be similarly arranged; but I prefer making them as described.

11 is the journal on which the roller 10 is hung in such a manner thatit may be thrown back out of way when it is desirable tQ do so. The roller 10 is held down against the leather' by means of the lever .12,which catches into a notch made to receive it in the arm 13. The fingers 2 2 are adjustable in the same manner by means of the lever 14 and arm 15.

Motion is communicated to the diffcren parts of the machine by means of a belt acting on the pulley 16 and driving the shaft on which it is` hung. Through this shaft the motion is carried tothe double cam 17, which draws out the rod 20, to which the knife 7 is attached, toward the said cam, and after the extreme projection of the cam passes by the roller 18 the knife is thrown or drawn in the opposite direction by means of the spring 19, thus producing a reciprocating motion of the knife 7. The motion is also communicated from the shaft on which the pulley 16 is hung to the shaft on which the wheel or pulley 2l is hung, and from thence by means ofthe wheels 22 and 23 it is communicated to the driving roller 9. The leather in passing through the machine is first introduced bctween the bed 1 and the roller 5, where it comes in contact with and is drawn over the corrugations shown on thebed in Fig. 4, which, as is evident from their form and direction, will spread it out laterally when passing over` the ridge in the center between the roller 5 and the fingers 2 2, which fingers cause it to bear equally on the edge of the gage 6, so that the leather will not be crushed or compressed, as it is iu other machines, by the direct pressure applied to it immediately over the knife, or nearly so, but on the other hand will be by tension drawn down to the gage 6 with sufficient force to make the under surface assume the form of a perfect or nearly perfect plane. Thus it will be seen that it will make no material difference whether theleather is of even thickness or not; but as the quality of work done in the machines depends very much on this circumstance, the avoidance of this cause 0f difficulty is a-matter of great importance.

It' crushing or compressing takesplace, the leather will be uneveniy cut, and by wetting it the unevenness becomes still more apparent. This objectionable feature, which is a matter of great importance when splittingofi very thin sheets of leather, is avoided by my imprcve'darrangemcnt of parts when constructed as I have stated.

I claim* l. The combination of the bed l, fingers 2 2, gage 6, gage 25, and. roller 5, constructed and operated as described.

2. The combination of the bed 1, fingers 2 2, gage 6, gage 25, and roller 5 with the knife 7 and rollers 9 and 10, as set forth.

A. H. VAN GIBSON.

IVitnesses:

VL. A. ROBERTS, H. JAMES WESTON. 

